There is only one small campground in the park, so it fills up very quickly. As we really wanted to stay within the park, to make sure it would happen, we got to the park at around 6 am... And even though we were there so early, there were already several other people in line in front of us. Luckily, the early bird catches the worm, and so did we manage to get one of the campsites.

We spent two days and two nights in the park, which seems to be just enough to see most of it (unless you plan to go backpacking). During that time we went for two longer and several shorter hikes. Descriptions of the shorter hikes you can find below, and to the longer ones I dedicated separateposts.

The Balanced Rock Trail is a short (0.3 mile) loop hike up to, and around, the Balanced Rock. It is definitely fascinating to see this balancing act of Nature:

The trail leading to the Park Avenue area is 1 mile long (one way) and leads next to several interesting rock formations. My favorite was the rock that Agnieszka and I called "Pharoah" (I think the official name of the rock is "Queen Nefertiti"):

Park Avenue, Courthouse Towers:

Petrified Dunes, La Sal Mountains in the background:

Garden of Eden, La Sal Mountains:

The hike to North and South Window is 1 mile (1.6 km) long and takes around 40 minutes:

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Delicate Arch is the most widely recognized landmark of both Arches NP and Utah. Its delicate beauty inspired millions of amateur, as well as professional, photographers from all over the world. It was featured multiple times on magazine covers and it is also depicted on Utah license plates.

The best way to see it is to go on a 1.5 mile long (one way) hike that starts at Wolfe Ranch parking area. The hike is very pleasant even though you can not see the Arch until the very last 100 meters of the trail.

This hike is not wheel-chair accessible. But luckily, the Arch can also be seen from a viewpoint (Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint) that is located just next to the parking lot. From there you can see the Arch at a distance of about one mile and to take a good picture of it you will need a telephoto lens and a tripod.

From the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint you can continue for another 0.5 mile to the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint, which is closer to the Arch. However, the views from there are basically the same as from the Lower Viewpoint (though the need for a tele lens and tripod disappears).

We visited the Lower and Upper Viewpoints early in the morning, but we decided to hike to the base of Delicate Arch around sunset as this is the best time to see it. For around 5 minutes the color of the Arch is changing from yellow-orange into beautiful deep warm orange-red. It's definitely worth seeing this transformation, even though, literally, you will share this experience with several hundred other hikers and/or photographers... It did feel very artificial and surreal to be waiting with so many other people for the moment that each of us wished to be intimate.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

At the end of the 18-mile long road leading through the park is the trailhead of the Devils Garden Primitive Loop. At 7.2 miles (11.5 km) it is the longest maintained trail in the park. It leads to several beautiful arches: Landscape, Tunnel, Pine Tree, Wall, Double O, Partition and Navajo. The first part of the trail is paved, level, and wide. But once you pass Landscape Arch, the trail gets rougher and at times difficult to find.

The highlight of the trail is Landscape Arch, which is the longest natural arch in the world, measuring 290 feet (88.4 m). Unfortunately, likely the arch will collapse some time soon. In the last several years three pieces of sandstone have fallen from its thinnest section, forcing the park to close the trail that once passed under it. I am definitely glad that I had a chance to see it while it still stands in all its glory.

Also other arches along the trail are worth seeing and I would definitely highly recommend this hike.

As I realized after the hike, that's almost exactly the same distance and elevation change that one has to hike when going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back. The more proud I am to report that we completed the hike in 6h 30 min!

Since I did not find a good description of this hike anywhere in the internet, I am going to try to be as detailed in my description as possible.

The trailhead for the Dipsea Trail is located in Old Mill Park in Mill Valley, CA (for directions click here).

There are several (free) parking spots in the Old Mill Park along Cascade Drive. Try to park as close to the park entrance as possible, as the trailhead is located just opposite the entrance at the intersection of three roads: Cascade Drive, Cascade Way, and Molino. There are no obvious trail markings and it almost looks like the trail leads to somebody's house: take a look at Google Map street view. Don't get discouraged by that and aim for the staircase located in the driveway on the photo above.

The trail starts with three flights of stairs (adding up to 671 steps). According to the local legend, people who hiked and/or run Dipsea never die, they just reach the 672nd step :)

Once you walked up the first set of stairs, you will need to take a few steps to the right. The second set of stairs will be there. To find the third set, you will need to take a few steps to the left.

After the third set of steps you will find yourself on Sequoia Road. Follow the road (to the west/right) for around 600 ft (200 m), until you get to Walsh Drive. Continue on Walsh Drive and then Bay View until you reach Panoramic Highway. This is where you finally get off the pavement and where the good trail markings start.

The trail will continue on the other side of the highway, slightly to the right of the direction from which you came from. After around 5 minutes the trail will reach Muir Woods Road and will run parallel to it for around 0.4 mile (0.6 km). (In November 2010, this part of the trail was closed due to a mudslide. It's not a big deal, as you can walk on the road and rejoin the proper trail after 0.4 mile. To find the continuation of the Dipsea Trail, look for a sign "Cam Del Canon" and a few mailboxes on the left side of the road. It is so obvious that you can not miss it.)

Starting at Panoramic Highway the trail steadily drops down ~700 feet (210 m), until it reaches the lower parking lot of Muir Woods. From there, over the course of 2.2 miles (3.5 km), you will need to climb ~1400 feet (430 m), until you get to the top of "Cardiac Hill". As the name suggests, "Cardiac Hill" can make your heart start pumping pretty hard, but the views from there are absolutely fantastic and will fully compensate for your climbing efforts. On a clear day you will be able to see San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, Oakland, top of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

If you feel tired and did not arrange for anybody to pick you up at the end of the trail in Stinson Beach, this would be a good place to turn around, as from here over the course of next 3 miles (4.8 km), the trail will drop all the way down to the ocean, and you will loose all the elevation that you gained so far. But if you feel strong, I would definitely recommend going all the way to Stinson Beach, as this part of the hike is the prettiest. From now on, the trail will lead you through a deep misty forest across several Marin hills. Moreover, during the final one mile of the trail there are spectacular views of Stinson Beach and the ocean.

After reaching Stinson Beach you have a choice of either going back the same way you came (this is what we did last Saturday), or you can make your hike even longer by first hiking the Matt Davis & Steep Ravine Trails (described here and here) before rejoining the Dipsea Trail.

All in all this is a fantastic, but challenging hike. It crosses several parks: Mt. Tamalpais SP, Muir Woods NM, the Golden Gate Recreational Area, and it brings you all the way to the ocean and a nice beach. It should not be attempted by novice hikers (unless you do it one-way only). Depending on your strength, it can take you anything from 5 to 8 (or more) hours to complete it. Though there are people who run it in 2h...

For us, the first half of the hike (getting to Stinson Beach) was super-easy and fast, but hiking back from there was not. I started feeling pain in one of my knees at around mile 11 and, therefore, the last 4 miles where a bit unpleasant - especially during the downhills. Absolute killer for me was at the end of the hike when we had to walk down the 671 steps... Every single one of them was hurting.

At around mile 14, Anil renamed the hike "Dip-shit", which expresses pretty well what we felt at that particular moment... Still, we are very proud of ourselves for having finished it and we are surprised that today, a day later, nothing hurts us. I hope that it means that both of us are in a reasonably good shape before our Andean adventure.

The hike begins with 671 steps:

The second half of the trail leads through the beautiful green forest of Muir Woods NM:

Monday, November 22, 2010

Last Saturday Anil and I went to his family's friends to celebrate Diwali, also known as festival of lights. It is the most important festival for Hindus. It commemorates the return of Lord Rama from the fourteen-year-long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. Diwali is very popular with children as part of the celebration includes bursting firecrackers :)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Fairyland Loop Trail left us wanting to see more of the park, so after a short break we set out for another hike. This time into the Bryce Amphitheater.

We started the hike at Sunrise Point with the Queen's Garden Trail, which is the least steep trail entering the canyon. It is also one of the prettiest trails in the park as it passes next to some of the most interesting hoodoos and several natural bridges.

The Queen's Garden Trail connects with the Navajo Trail, which we used to hike out of the canyon. The last part of the trail is very steep. It leads through a slot canyon called "Wall Street" to Sunset Point, where the trail ends. To complete the loop and get back to your car, you will need to hike another 0.3 mile on the Rim Trail.

The combined trails create a 2.9 mile (4.6 km) loop with the elevation change of 580 ft (177 m), which modestly is called in the park's newsletter "the prettiest 3-mile hike in the world". Well, they might just be right about this one.

Queen's Garden:

One of several bridges:

On the trail:

Honeymoon picture :)

Wall Street:

Some of the best views in Bryce NP are on the trail under the rim near Sunset Point:

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Meet the author and the main protagonist:

Hi! Welcome to the blog of Monika, a world traveler, writer and photographer. You can find here some of my photos, as well as descriptions of my adventures from around the world. Enjoy reading and thanks for stopping by!